strengthened following the death of a 4-year-old. legislation that lengthened time for someone over 18, convicted of rape, of someone under 13. from five to 15 years. legislation an effort to prevent deaths like sarah fox well. her mother was in annapolis to make sure this passed. >> nothing will ever bring sarah back. it is a peace knowing we can continue to advocate for our children and we now have laws in place that will protect our children more than they did before. >> reporter: when it comes to slots, a last minute compromise to get a casino built by lowering the tax rate and allowing to it operate by the owner of a different maryland casino. mike miller is frustrated by the slot information in general. >> we should have passed it six years ago. we tried hard. fshz >> reporter: what about reduction in spending? >> we really made no real

spending reductions in the house or senate. the blame belongs with the democrat governor. >> reporter: whether it was a successful session or not may be up to the voters to decide come november. among the bills that pass is one that makes it el legal to use your cell phone while behind the wheel there is confusion when it comes to using our phone. joce sterman is here to try to clear this up. >> if you are confused about what you can or can't do you are not alone. there are last minute negotiations, decisions, and there are head scratching going on. the assembly has been debating bills for a decade. and it seems they made their largest decision this time around. passing a will making it legal to use your hands to use a hand- held cell phone. using your phone is not a primary offense. you can't be pulled over for

it. police would have to stop you for something else. you would be ticket thed a 40- dollar fine for the first time offense. texting, you can be pulled over and fined $500 for sending a text. that's thank to a law passed last year. lawmakers tried to make it illegal to read texts this year. the bill went south when the house and senate couldn't agree. it illegal to send text but not read them. it seems the overall ban would cover that too. but that seems to be up to officials and police departments to interpret in the future. lawmakers voted to change child support payment guidelines for the first time in 20 years. they will go in to effect in october. negotiators decided to waif the scale for payments based on combined monthly income from 10,000 to 15,000 instead of raising the scale for combined to $30,000 as was proposed by

the senate. here is a look at some of the bills that didn't pass. medical marijuana debate. the house needs time to study the measure. a committee refused to give tax credits to companies that do notice to private schools and gaming, the house panel did not endorse bringing card games to struggling prince georges racetracks. legislators failed to pass roughly 1900 measures. tomorrow at 9:00, an abc 2 news exclusive a sit down with former governor robert ehrlich. he announced he is running again for govern. we will chat with him about why he decided to run again and give an opportunity to get your questions answered.

if you have questions you want answered email them to the former governor at morning show at wmar.com and go to our facebook fan page to leave us a question there. tune in tomorrow on good morning maryland at 9:00 to hear the answers to your questions. four firefighters recovering after the truck they were riding in collided with another engine. engine company 36 and 14, were responding to a fire in the 1200 block of moster when they crashed on north fulton and edmonton avenue. >> i heard the sirens going on. i said what is happening. i heard people running upstairs. i was coming right behind them. >> the four firefighters were taken to shock trauma. a crash is being investigated.

no word on how the fire began. probably a bit of a wet drive home tonight. we seen rain on and off throughout most of the day. but the rain and clouds maybe moving out. why it's in the storm center tonight with a look at our first forecast. >> that's a pretty good rain out there kelly. no doubt about it. picking up a bit on the powerful radar. show you where the heaviest rain is now. in to the evening we will begin to see clearing. we are seeing a little bit oh the north. if you look up i-83 towards york, we got clearing conditions. but moderate to heavy rain coming down i-70 through frederick and more wet weather in the direction of areas just south of the baltimore beltway as you head down towards i-95 towards jessup, elk ridge and glenn burrny. a slick and wet commute. give yourself extra time. cool too. staying in the 50s. eventually in the 40s, scattered showers, murky and

cool. we will talk about when the last of the rain gets out of here when the temperatures comes up straight ahead. prince georges county police investigating their own for the alleged beating of a college student at university of maryland. brian kuebler spoke with police and joins us now with what is next in this investigation. >> prince georges county police say they have already suspended one officer from this incident and more could follow. the video was taken after the maryland win over duke early last month. the video shows the senior, getting beaten by three prince georges county officers. they were originally charged with assaulting officers here but the charges were dropped this week. then this video surfaced possibly launching several investigations. >> we don't have a lot of faith in the system whether he felt be filing a civil suit to tex tent that the police don't get

to the truth of the matter, we will. coming up at 6:00 we will she you another video of the incident from a closer aing and will explain what comes next in this investigation. brian kuebler, abc 2 news. police identified a man killed in an industrial accident in handover. stacey moody a driver for mckenzie trucking was delivering slabs to american counter tops yesterday morning when the slabs slid off his truck flatbed trailer and fell on top of him. he died at the scene. police believe that the incident was an accident. it has concrete evidence that terrorists are plotting to kidnap israelis. urging citizens to get out. israel has a travel advisories.

it is widely ignored. this is the second and final day of the nuclear security summit in washington dc, marks the leaders of 46 countrys. president barack obama sounded the alarm over the threat. he urged them to join forces in making all nuclear secure. a new safety warning about another toyota model. consumer reports magazine is urging you not to buy the new lexus gx460. it says it's test uncovered a roll over problem while making turns. calling toyota the fix the problem fast. toyota has not commented on the warning. this another set back for the company. toyota had to recall 8 million vehicles worldwide for accelerator problems. is the recession over? the committee which determines the official start and end date

for u.s. recessions met last week but says it ca k not determine the official ped end date. it confirmed december 2007 was when the recession began. most economic indicators have improved recently including the dow which closed above 11,000 for the first time in 18 months yesterday. even if there is no official determination of an end date, most economists agree that the recession is likely over. baltimore will receive federal disaster funds for the december snowstorm, remember the one that dumped 20 inches of snow in the city. baltimore wasn't included in president barack obama's initial disaster, because the city couldn't show it received record or near record snowfall. officials persuadeed the national weather service to look at additional measurements because snow totals varied around baltimore putting baltimore over the hump to get $2.25 million in federal funding, the city is also

expecting at least 7 million for the those back to back visits we dealt with in february. practical jokes are supposed to be fun. it is no laughing matter after what one deputy decided to do to soot. are you plan -- to another. are you planning to go away for spring break? find out the most important things to pack. the senior prom, why glenn burrny students may not get to attend theirs this year. annapolis, sitting at 48 degrees from the harbor school. details of the forecast, it's improving, coming up in just a few. [house] wow, i feel like a new house

after my quick home energy check-up from bge. it's the closest i'll ever get to a day spa. they wrapped my pipes, installed cfl bulbs, recommended a little nip/tuck around the old windows and more. [announcer] learn to speak the language of energy efficiency at bgesmartenergy.com, and pamper your home with a quick home energy check-up. [sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life.

. look at news around the nation. takes us to columbus ohio where three workers were hurt when a creement truck's boom collapsed a at construction site. a man was trapped for a short time and suffered a broken leg, the other two suffered

fractures it was extended to more than 180 feet, and fell on to its side as workers pumped concrete at a former mall site. safety regulators are investigating the incident. sheriff deputy landed himself in hot water when he used a stun gun to shock a female department on the rear end. look at this -- deputy on the rear end. see the female deputy showing something on the phone and see him chase after her and use the stun gun on her. he says it was meant to be a joke but admitted his behavior was improper. he he did not lose his job. it's a time to make summer plans, depending on where you are going you may want to pack travel insurance. jamie costello explains why. >> reporter: bive you head to the airport or hit the road, you may want to consider

travelers insurance. cover our absence. inshierns can help protect you in case of sickness, death in the family, loss of luggage, flight cancellations or unpredictable event. according to a pole by angie's list it's worth the money. how much the trip is really not flexible. for example you might be able to pay $100 change a plane ticket or cancel a hotel reservation, you need to think about how much money tabor toing be out if the trip gets canceled. rates are based on age, cost of the trip, and level of coverage desired. but don't just trust any company. it's important to do research on the company you are buying the insurance through. buy a reputable company. sometimes they go under and you are out. use it when the cost to cancel

or postpone a trip is high. find a trusted company make sure the risks are covered. make sure to save all documents related to our travel in case you have to file a claim. during your travels this season, shop around for deals. it pays to ask, many hotels are struggling. angie's list is a consumer organization helping hones find reliable help in hundreds of categories including travel agents. for more information check out abc2news.com, click on the links tab. looks like twit ser now going to allow company company tossed atize on its site. the feature is called promoted tweets. twitter says best bye company, sony picture, star bucks and virgin america are the advertisers. they are to be called out as ads on top of search results.

twitter users will see the ads when they search for topics being tweeted about. if it's not faded by users or searched for it will disappear. fast food giant is hoping to speed up the remake of its u.s. restaurants, kind of turning them in to cozier places. offering financial assistant to franchisers willing to revamp their restaurants -- mcdonald's restaurants. today would have been a good day to sit inside mc cafe. >> exactly. murky day. rain out there throughout the afternoon. whether he see more of this this evening. the commute probably little worse than normal.

then improvements start tomorrow. not bad. brief april showers. looking outside, murky, cloudy, rain still coming down to a certain degree. we are seeing improving rain trend from north to south. we will show you that in a second. kind of a gray april day. you got to have some of those. 48 degrees, that's a chilly current temperature at dwi. we got in to the 50s today. northeast wind is chilly. bringing in 12 miles per hour breeze gusting more than that. through the day our weather net camera getting doused by rain and showers all day long at the maryland science center. it was a wet day. spots picking up average at a quarter of an inch of rain. see the daily rainfall totals out there many spots below a 10á9 of an inch. baltimore through laurel. manchester closer to a third of an inch there. if you were under a downpour, like towards darlington there, rainfall totals were a bit higher. it has been gusty, gusts up to

21. temperatures statewide, cooler than the 70s yesterday. close to 30-degree cool down, maybe 25-degree cool down. the numbers will drop off maybe another 5- 7 degrees overnight. chilly northwest wind, more of a northeast breeze at the moment. winds from the north, keeping things on the cool side also. rain cooling from all the showers today, see one pretty heavy band of rain, i think this will be the last band. from hagerstown south of the baltimore area, south of the beltway here, as we take you in to the five sweep live mode you can see that heavier rain band south of the city will keep pushing south. annapolis you will see heavier rain. glen burnie you are getting heavy to moderate rain. this last blast will push south. short lived. we are dry by midnight or so. maybe a few wet roads leftover by morning. no new rain. and clearing conditions will come in. we got a stalled frontal

boundary right now. just south of the baltimore area. south of there we have the milder drier air moving in towards the end of the week and bring the temperatures up. see that south and west of us that will come in as the last piece of rain moves out and we get the funny skies tomorrow. showers, 40s. little bit chilly tomorrow. nice sunshine, will warm us up 64. tomorrow night dry and cool, 42. seven-day forecast, the trend is a good one here. if you like the sunny warmer weather we got it for you wednesday in to thursday. friday i think dry most of the day. a chance for showers friday lasting in to saturday. we will talk about that in a few more minutes. it's the end of the legislative session and that means the beginning of the campaign season. we will take a closer look coming up. cardiologists may have more than a person's health in mind when they treat patients. a study about doctors and malpractice.

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we have brands new stories coming your way at 5:30. campaign season is underway. a closer look at ehrlich's bid for governor. a high school's student right of passage, senior prom, why it may not be an option for glen burnie students. plus drama on the dance floor. what is happening on the dance floor is getting more headlines. those stories and wyatt everhart's forecast at 5:30. thanks a lot. in tonight's health alert, doctors who specialize in heart care find that like so many other doctors they practice

defensive medicine. not only against disease but lawsuits. >> reporter: a new study shows that many cardiologists have more than a person's health in mind when they treat patients. concerns about being sued, how often some order unnecessary tests. 600 doctors were surveyed. asked about circumstances when they order cardiac catheterizations. 6 the survey showed peer pressure was significant. more than 27% of the doctors said they would order ter procedure if they believed another physician would order it, even though they personally thought it was unnecessary. researchers found practices widely around the country and concluded fear of lawsuits result in significant differences in health care use

and spending. also in the health alert. who doesn't like sweets? most children love the taste of sugar but some can be less of a treat and more of an addiction. research found that children responses to intense sweet taste could be related to a family history of alcoholism. in some cases depression this the child. researchers say children who like the most intense sweetness had links to alcohol and depression. lawmakers are working to overhaul the testimony system to prevent another recession. look at the focus at 5:30 which starts in just two minutes. [ male announcer ] are you watching cable?

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this price will be history. get fios tv, internet and phone for just $69.99 a month for six months with a two-year agreement. call now. if you stick with cable, you'll be stuck with the bill. last chance to get three fios services for an amazing $69.99 a month for six months. call 1-888-884-fios. that's 1-888-884-fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios.

it's the night high school seniors dream of. some won't get a chance to dance at their prom. a four year fundraising effort at north country high school in glen burnie fell short, half of the class will only get to go. how the school system is trying to hand handle the problem. >> reporter: dressed up with no place to go go the prom dress, necklace and earrings may have to stay in her closet. >> they were sold out. i'm like sold out. the tickets sold out. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the schools says fundraising efforts didn't generate enough money for the class of 2010. he is among 392 students but only 400 tickets were made